Crocs In The Sewer
by Symbiotic Toxin
Summary: A newcomer from Gotham has made his way to New York City, and the Spectacular Spider-man is about to show him what's what. But this newcomer isn't going to go down easy, and the appearance of a third party isn't going to help matters. Can he make it through triumphantly, or will he become just another casualty to this new menace?
1. Journey Into the Sewer

The sewers were not his favorite place to be. Rumors circulated about what dwelled within through the either papers brimming with UFO sightings and the return of Elvis, or through word of mouth from those who actually read those papers. The problem wasn't the rumors, or the fear they instilled or the curiosity they piqued. The problem was that sometimes the rumors were true. If anyone would know, it'd be him.

Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-man, had gone below the grim and gritty surface of New York and into the wet and increasingly putrid network enough times to know what was fact or not. To date he had disproven rumors of sewer gators the size of a bus, alien technology, rat people trying to take over the world, and a lizard man eating anyone unfortunate enough to wind up down here. The last one he knew for a fact was a rumor, seeing as the only lizard man he knew had left some time ago, his scaly alter-ego wiped out of his system. Or so he thought. The newest rumor circulating the newsstands was that something big and scaly had found its way here and was not making a good impression with the locals.

"I could be at home, getting ready for my mid-term, but no," he thought aloud, "I had to go and get wrangled into lizard hunting." His mind went back not fifteen minutes ago, when he was just checking in on the Daily Bugle for work. He could smell the perfume Betty Brant wore while he asked about getting a copy of a check he 'misplaced' during another go-around with Rhino at a salvage yard. Unfortunately he could also still hear Jonah screaming, or in his case talking, about a series of Lizard sightings. He wasn't even given a chance to ask about it before he was barraged with a mix of saliva and questions on why he was standing around when there were pictures to take.

Despite his initial grumblings, he needed this. Naturally, he needed the money to help pay the rent, but there was the matter of it being a Lizard sighting that really made him curious. A month had passed since Doctor Conners had left, but if the rumors were true he was back. Or at least the Lizard was. As he scurried along the tunnels, he kept made sure to periodically look down into the water under him.

Sure his spider-sense would warn him if anything was wrong or about to jump out at him, but it didn't hurt to be cautious. Even so, he wasn't even remotely thinking about the task at hand. If it was Conners, if he had become the Lizard again, would he be able to take him down? Last time he barely managed to slow him down enough to give him a gene-cleansing. Conners didn't look in the best of spirits when he left, but could he really have come back in such dire straits to become the Lizard again, or was this something left over from, something of the original formula that had been overlooked and had become active suddenly?

All these worries and more swam through his head as he crawled further and further into the sewer. Then, further ahead, he heard something. The echo of the tunnels distorted it, but from what he could tell…it was a growl. Low and grumbling, almost filled with discontent. But he knew that whatever it was, it wasn't human.

"Sounds like I might be right about it being Lizard. Terrific," he groaned. With a heavy sigh and a quick breath, Spider-man picked up the pace and followed the growl. He hoped and prayed that whatever it was up ahead, it wasn't the Conners. It didn't sound pleasant, but at the least he could take comfort in the fact that his former mentor hadn't, for lack of a better term, fallen off the wagon.

Another growl echoed, louder than before. He was getting close. But the growl sounded different this time. The discontent was still there, but it almost sounded…human. He didn't have time to think about that now.

The tunnel had come to an end, right at a rather large chamber. iWho'd of thought there was a place this big under here/i he thought. Spider-man quickly glanced around the room, hoping something would catch his eye. He got his wish, unfortunately. The chamber was a quarter filled with water, a platform above the churning sewage with ladders and stairs leading up and away into other, larger tunnels. Towards the west end of the platform, hunched over, was what appeared to be a man.

Right next to the hunched figure was what looked like a worker, face down and barely breathing from what he could tell. Spider-man crawled out from the tunnel, pulling his camera out as he did, and webbed it right above it. Once he was sure it was secure, he leapt off the wall and onto the platform, the man barely noticing enough to look back.

"Hey now, didn't your parents ever teach you not to play rough house so…roughly?" Spider-man looked at the worker again, noticing his breathing was belabored. He was in a lot of pain, even while unconscious. The man straightened himself and stood, turning towards the webhead with a piercing stare and yellow eyes. He stepped a bit closer, giving Spider-man a good look at the gray scales that covered his body. _Well, I was right about the lizard part._


	2. Let's Get Ready To Pumble

The man, if he could be called that now, easily towered over Spider-man as he drew closer and closer. He could hear a low growl emitting from the cave of rotting and sharpened teeth it called a mouth. Every step it took forward, Spider-man took a quick shuffle back. He was going to have to act soon, hopefully before whatever it was made a move. But another look at the scales on its body brought a sudden thought: he might be in need of help.

"Look, in all seriousness, I can help you if you let me. There's a guy, a scientist, who can turn you back,' his hands in a position to ward it off, 'you just have to calm dow-"

"Gruahahahaha!" The shock of any vocalization other than growls and roar froze Spidey in place. The transition from growl to a cackle was almost seemless. Whatever he had done to him or had done to himself, he clearly had some intellect left.

"Ya can't change me back to what I never was, runt." Its voice, gravelly and filled with malicious purpose, sent a chill down his spine. It had a lot of intellect left. It took a step closer. From its body language, Spidey could see he was about to lunge. He kept his hands held out in protest.

"Hey, whoa there, crockers, lets not do anything rash."

"That's Killer Croc to you, runt." It lunged at Spider-man with speed surprising something of it's build and size. Still, Spider-man had escaped bigger and faster. He crouched down before jumping to the side, landing to the far right. Not much time for a quick plan, however, as Killer Croc made another lunge, this time swiping at him with one of its' large hands. As he jumped to the side, Spider-man shot a strand of webbing aimed for the monster mans' eyes. Whatever intelligence he had was limited, obviously, so the webbing would easily distract and confuse him.

What he had hadn't factored properly was the brute getting mad. With some brand of luck Croc had charged right at Spider-man. Reaction caused him to try jumping over the charging reptile, allowing him to ram into the railing. At that speed and with his mass, a section of the railing not only dented but tore off the platform. Seeing the opportunity, Spider-man shot a web-line, pulling hard once it made contact with Crocs' back. The strand tore.

He wasted no time firing two more web-lines. By now Croc had regained some composure and had turned around, the webbing on his face still blinding him. He barely stepped forward when he felt something hit his chest, then again. Before he could react properly, Croc was jerked forward and to the left with sudden velocity. Croc came into contact once again with the railing, face first this time.

Dazed, Croc picked himself up. Sloppily, he attempted to tear the mess off his face. He needed to see, he needed to know where the twerp was so he could get him good. With enough tugging the webbing was almost tore away and he could see the dim light of the sewer, followed by the red fist coming towards him. Croc was still too dazed to react, and took the hit right in the jaw.

Spider-man, while the brute was still mildly reeling from the hit, acted fast. In what looked like one graceful move, he jumped over Croc once more, this time swinging his leg so that his heel met with the back of the brutes' head before landing in a crouched position on the railing. Croc stumbled back a few steps before falling onto his back.

"So are you done trying to catch me, or are we going to remodel the whole platform? I mean, with a dent here, some webs there; I think we could really make this place pop, don't you?" Croc only growled in response, jumping back on to his feet.

"I'm gonna make you pop, ya runt."

"Redecorating expert and witty? You must be a real catch, Crockers." Killer Croc's eye widened as he charged once more at the webhead. Spidey leapt over the charging reptile, feeling that this was just going to be a repeat of the same tactic till he got tired. _At least I'm getting some good pictures._

C_an't wait to see Jonah tweak this into conspiracy about me working with this big lu- _Spider-man was pulled straight out of his thought by a crushing grip on his ankle. He must been to lack in his jump, because Croc now had a hold of him and was looking for some pay back. WHAM. Spidey's back met the floor hard. Croc stood over him now, a gruesome smile on his face.

"Haven't used this since my wrestlin' days." Spider-man had little time to react before Killer Croc jumped up and slammed his elbow into his gut. He couldn't keep the cry of agony down, letting it echo throughout the chamber. Croc allowed him to roll over onto his side, enjoying seeing the runt cough and groan in pain. _Music to my ears_ he thought.

Croc bent over and lifted Spider-man by the neck, holding him close to get a good look at him. Spider-man would have loved to make a joke about his breath if he wasn't being almost choked to death. But as the monster examined him, he couldn't help but look straight in his eyes. For the moment they were cold and dead, but somehow filled him with enough fear that he didn't dare make a move until he was sure it would take him down.

Croc, examining the young hero, was not as terrified or impressed by his foe. He'd tangled with a hero before; one who he begrudgingly knew was good at what they did. But this was, from what he gathered, just a kid with some fancy tricks wearing a mask.

"You thought you could take down Killer Croc, huh? Better'n you have tried, runt. I didn't make my way to the Big Apple just to get harassed by some little punk tha-' Croc was interrupted by a new body slamming into him. He dropped Spidey, who slowly picked himself u.

While he coughed and regained focus, he looked over to where Croc was now. Someone had made a timely arrival, but who knew he was down here? And more important, who was it? The savior was almost the same size as Killer Croc, and just as strange looking. Spider-man could only make out a vest and what appeared to be fur before realizing who it was.

He was far from saved.


End file.
